Distributer for supply-water to feed-water heaters.



w. P. BILYEU" DISTBIBUTER FOR SUPPLY WATER T0 FEED WATER HEATERS.

APPLICATION FILED 00128, 1913.

Patented July 28, 19m

UNITED STATES raTENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. BILYEU, or RIVERTON, NEW creases, essreuou To WARREN wsns'raa a,

comrAnY, a coaroasriou or new JERSEY.

Specification of Letters'Patent.

Patented July 28'; .914.

Application filed October as, 1913. Serialhlo. vanes;

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it'known thatl, WILLIAM F. BILYnU,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of River'ton, county of Burlington, and

5 State of New Jersey, have invented an Imrovement in "Distributers for Supplyr ater to Feed-WaterHeaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a water'for a plurality of feed water heaters, and has for its object to provide a mechanism whereby a plurality of feed water heaters of different capacities may effectively operate. as a common unit,- receive Water from a common source of supply and each receive a supply'of water proportionate to its capacity, said supply for any heater not being affected or varied by varying condi= tions in another heater of the same system.

My invention consists of a water dist-rib uting device, serving as a common receptacle for feed water, and embodying a novel svs temi f weirs, each of which bears a definite ratio or proportion .to the capacity of the feed water heater, thesupply of water to which it controls. p

- It further consists of a common distributing receptacle for the feed water heaters having a separate means therein: for regulating the normal supply of water to each feed water-heater which it supplies, said means providing at all times the same head of water in respect to'each of the feed water heaters.

It further consists of other novel features of construction; all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

'F r th, purpose ofillustrating by invention, I; have shown in the accompanying drawings one form-thereof which 1s at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it isto be understood that the various instrumentalit-ies of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shownand described.

Referring to the drawings *-Figure 1 represents a side elevation of ,a pair of feed water heaters of different capacities, equipped with a common water distribution system embodying my invention Fig. 2 represents a sectional elevation of the waterdistributmg box; Fig. 3 represents a side eleva' tion of one of the weir plates; Fig. 4. represents a side elevation of the second weir plate and Fig. 5 represents a sectional detail oil a modified form ofweir construction.

In the drawingsylike numerals of refer- I v I once indicatecorresponding parts'in the vadistributer for 10 regulating the distribution of the supply of (r ious figures. v

1 designates a feed waterlheater of any suitable type into which theexhaust steam from an engine or other source is conducted by way'' of the inlet pi e 2, said heater provided with a pump out et 3 for the combined Water of condensation and pro-heated feed water. Ad acent to the feed water heater l there is a second feed water heater 4; having a different capacity from that of the feed water heater 1, but which may be identread in other respects, and having the inlet 5 for the exhaust steam and pumproutlet 6, as will be readily understood. These two feed water heaters are. utilized to supply a boiler or battery of boilerslwith pre heated feed water. i

In steam. plants it sometimes becomes nec- "essary with a battery of boilers to utilize,,in connection with afeed water heater of large capacity, a second feed water'heater of rela tlvely smaller capacity, the two heaters being' necessary in order to take careof the demand of the boilers for 'pre-heated feed water; that is to say. one large feed water heater is oftenrinsufiicient to supply all of the feed water necessary, and therefore the additional feed water is furnished by a smaller feed water heater having the requlred capacity. Changes in the power of steam plants frequently require changes in the capacity of the feed water heaters,- and this is accomplished by pr vidin the additionalfeecl water heater or heaters.

In carrying my invention into practice I am enabled to utilize a common pumping element or source of supplyfior supplying the feed water to the respective feed water heaters, and as here shown, the pipe 7 represents the discharge from the pumping element, and it is connected with what I term a distributing chamber or box 8 which is connected with the respective heaters 1 and 4 by the pipes 9 and 10. In connection with the plpes 9 and 10, it will be noted. that the former, which leads to the heater of large ter which conveys the water to the heater of lower capacity, the two pipes being so proportioned that the flow of water is not only proportionate to the capacities of the heaters, but also hear a direct relationto the pipes 9 and 10.

The distributing box 8 is sub-divided by plates 11 and 12 into the receiving compartment 13 and the supply or feeding compartments 14 and 15. The receiving compartment 13 is in communication with the supply pipe 7, while the supply compartments l4 and 15 are respectively in communication with the pipes 9 and 10 leading to the heaters. The plate 11 is provided with a weir opening 16, which forms a communication between the chambers 13 and l i and has a weir crest 17, the length of which is proportioned with respect to the capacity of the feedwater heater 1, so that under all normal conditions the water flowing over the weir crest 17 will be suficient to maintain the feed water heater operating under normal condition. The plate 12 is likewise provided with a smaller weir opening 18 which forms a communication between the chambers-13 and 15; but since the chamber 15 supplies water to the heater i of less capacity, ,the length of the weir crest 19 is less than the crest the weir 18 are preferably upwardl diverging so that in case the weir head in t e chamber 13 is materially increased the ratio of the flow through the two weirs will remain substantially constant, since'the diverging construction of the smaller weir will take care of the relatively increased frictional and other losses due to its relatively narrower width. An essential feature of the foregoing construction resides in position ing the two weir crests 17 and 19 at the same distance from the bottom of the chamber 13 so that the flow of water will be at all times under the same head, and it will therefore be apparent that the ratio of flow through the two weirs will be a substantially constant quantity. 27 is an equalizing box in communication with both heaters and has its water level the same as that in. the heaters. 28 is a float in the box 27 and operates. a

lever 22. 21 designates a valve located in the pipe 7, which is automatically controlled by a rod 29 connecting with the lever 22 operated by the float mechanism 28, which is positioned, as above stated, at the normal water level point in the feed water heaters and designed to normally hold the valve 21 in open position, but close the same in case the water in the feed water heaters exceeds the level normally desired. The valve 21 may be operated in any other suitable man- In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified weir construction wherein a weir opening 23 is provided in a plate 24 which is adapted to be.

removably secured to a plate or plates 25 serving as a substitute construction for the plates 11 and 12, it being understood that the plate '25 has an opening 26 therein to aline with the weir opening 23, so that the flow may take lace in the desired manner. In this modifie be a plate 25 totake the place of each of the plates 11 and 12 shown in Fig. 2. By this construction it is possible to adjust or vary the weir openings for heaters of different capacities, thereby making it unnecessary to interchange or substitute a new distributing box' for every change inthe feed water heater capacities. Thus, any distributing box will serve for all feed water heaters, the

form there will, of course,

only change necessary being to insert the I proper weir opening plate 24. p

Inthe operation of the device, the supply of water from the common pumping element or source of supply enters the chamber 13 and'there overflows through the respective Weirs 16 and 18 into the chambers 14 and 15, the former of which maintains the proper supply "of water for the ca acity of the heater 1, while the latter supp ies the proper amount of water for the heater 4 It will therefore beevident that as each heater is drawniupon at a certain rate, it can have no effect upon, nor disturb in any manner, the required capacity supply for the companion heater, this of course being due to the fact that the weir heads are the same and each discharges into a separate supply or reservoir chamber. Thus it will be seen, there will be no change in the proportionate water su ply to the two heaters, and each will per cm its correct function irrespective of changed conditions in the other.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment 'thereof, it is to be'understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the character stated, a casing having an inlet and a plurality of outlets, said outlets being respectively adapted for connection with separate feed water being located at the same level, said partitions being constructed to entirely prevent flow of water from one chamber to another below said weirs, and said weirs heving' crest lengths respectively proportionate to the capacities of the-feed Water heaters with which the outlets have communication.

2. In a device of the character stated, a casing having an inlet and a'plurality of outlets, said outlets being respectively adapted for connection "with separate feed water heaters of different capacity, a plurality of removable division plates in said casing forming an inlet chamber having communication with said inlet and e plurality of supply chambers having communication respectively with said outlets, each of eeitl plates from the bottom of the plate, seitl plates being adapted to entirely prevent communication between said chambers below said Weirs; said weirs having crest lengths re- 'WILLIAM F. BILYEU.

Witnesses:

R. M. Hrinrnn, Hermon-D. j

having a weir thereinet the same distance 25 spectively progaortionete to the capacities of 30 

